I was part of a loving and stable family. I was lucky to experience no trauma in my life. I was the captain of my school, club, and county. I was the leader of the Senior Concert Band. I was a young coach and referee. I handed in all my homework. (Well, most of it.)
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Dyslexia is a learning difference affecting the way the brain processes written and spoken language. It is not laziness, disruptive behavior, or a general lack of comprehension. To see for yourself how some people struggle to read, have a look at this website and you’ll understand. Siobhan works in finance in London. She manages huge portfolios worth
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Society encourages young girls to imagine meeting the man of their dreams. We promote fairy tales where falling in love and getting married is the end goal. However, we don’t really talk about actual relationships very much at all. We don’t prepare young girls for what they should and should not expect from a romantic
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On Friday, 20th of September, thousands upon thousands of young people, across Ireland and the world, answered Climate Change activist Greta Thunberg’s call and proceeded to march the streets of their cities in protest of Global Warming and the Climate Crisis. I was one of those young people. If you are not already aware, the world
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Need a pep talk? Prepare for some tough love from the one and only Libby….. Get over yourself……..Seriously! You’re behaving in the same way you did when you were a child. Where did all of that beautiful growth go? You’re crying alone, looking for attention, simultaneously worrying and annoying your friends. You’re room is a
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What a day…… Yesterday, to celebrate International Day of the Girl, we threw a little party for 1,000 of our closest friends. These beautiful girls came from all over the south east to laugh, cry, sing and dance like no one was watching. Our speakers Razan Ibraheem, Sarah Doyle, and Niamh Fitzpatrick opened their hearts
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The BEST thing you can ever do for yourself, is start saying yes. Listen, I know it sounds so incredibly simple, too simple almost, but honestly, this is the best advice I could give anyone. Ever. Now, I’m not telling you to start saying yes to things you really really don’t want to do- that would be
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There are two types of people in this world. Those who are huggers, and those who aren’t. Which are you??? Its completely up to you which camp you fall into, there’s no judgement here. However, according to science, hugging is really really good for your health. Virginia Satir once said… We need four hugs a
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This week has been a busy one here at Shona, but next week going to be even bigger! Next Friday, October 11th, we will welcome 1,000 girls from across the South East to ‘SHINE 19: A Celebration of International Day of the Girl.’ We’re thrilled to be working with Beat102103 again to bring these girls
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LGBTQAI+ – It’s all in the plus 😄 As someone who works in the area of sexuality, I sometimes forget that all of the letters can look like a crazy confusing bowl of alphabetti spaghetti to someone who isn’t so familiar – and that’s OK! As terms evolve and people discover more ways to express themselves,
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For so long the fast fashion industry has made people feel like they’re not enough, have to look a certain way and they have to dress a certain way. The fast fashion industry has made us feel like we have to keep up with the latest “trends” that they change every two weeks, they make
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Dr Sharon wants to talk about poop, well lack of poop to be exact. Constipation. Rather you than me luv… Most people go to the toilet; number 2, poo, pass a bowel motion, whatever you like to call it about once a day. It can be normal for others to only go every few days
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Got something to say? Want to be heard? Well. Here’s your chance to SHINE!! Our mates at Zeminar are inviting you to share the main stage with Rory’s Stories, telling your story to over 1,000 people on October 8th. If you are one of the 3 young people chosen, your speech will be recorded, produced
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I grew up in a funny household. We were the kind of family where you couldn’t say “bed” instead of “bread” on a Monday morning without the whole house reminding you of it for the next ten years. My mother, the eternal nutjob, does Godfather impressions when she’s trying to convince my stepdad that we
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I have such a weird relationship with my body and my self confidence. It’s become the “norm” for people to slag their own appearance and disagree with compliments about themselves but I think it’s time we put all that energy into loving our bodies. When I went away for the summer I was so so scared
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This is so amazing. RTE are partnering with our friends at Herstory (remember they projected our images on the GPO that time?), to create animation projects to celebrate Ireland’s forgotten Irish heroines. Starting next Spring, the animations will celebrate Ireland’s great female trailblazers, many of whom have been overlooked by history or whose stories are
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We all think that everyone else has the perfect family, and that ours are the only ones who are completely dysfunctional. When we visit our friends homes, their parents are sweetness and light, the house is always clean, and they are loving to each other. NEWSFLASH: ITS A FACADE! Every family has its ups and
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In a new documentary called “Odd One Out”, Little Mix star, Jesy Nelson has opened up about how the vile and cruel comments she received online drove her to attempt to take her own life. Thrown into the spotlight after winning The X Factor in 2010, Jesy was immediately hit by online bullies in the
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